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Norquist defends no-tax pledge

“The president was elected on the basis that he was not Romney and that Romney was a poopy-head and you should vote against Romney,” Norquist, an anti-tax crusader, said on CBS’s “This Morning.” “[Obama] won by two points, but he didn’t make the case for higher taxes and higher spending. He kind of sounded like the opposite.”

The president campaigned for reelection on ending the Bush-era tax cuts for incomes above $250,000, and has said he would veto any extension of those rates, which would likely be part of any deal to avert the fiscal cliff. Obama also said tax hikes would be needed as part of a “balanced” approach to deficit reduction, which would include spending cuts.

But during a series of appearance on morning TV shows, Norquist, the leader of Americans for Tax Reform, tried to put the brakes on any deal that would include tax rate increases. At one point, he mischaracterized Obama’s positions.

“Obama is not interested in taxing the rich,” Norquist said on CBS. “He admits there’s no money there. He runs a $6.7 trillion debt assuming he raises taxes on high-income people.”

“The challenge is, the problem we have is the last four years of overspending,” Norquist said on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.” “Raising taxes doesn’t solve the overspending problem; it is a distraction. We ought to be looking at undoing the damage of the last four years and reining in spending, not raising taxes.”

POLITICO - “Raising taxes doesn’t solve the overspending problem, it is a distraction.”

Dear Mr. Norquist,

Can we get you to also speak the truth that "Cutting Taxes Never Produced Jobs?" "Trickle-Down Never Trickled Down to Main-Street Small Business-Communities, Repeal of Glass/Steagall and GOP's 1st TARP hurt Small Community Banks?

Is truth that hard to accept?

The Highest Private Job Creations Are All In The Record as with a Democratic President? Only "Surplus=Democratic POTUS"

While Fastest Debts came from "Off the books wars under your pledges"

Two Last Questions,

#1 How can you ask a Representative of any District To Vote Against The Health/Well-being of His own neighbors, his voters?

#2 How can you ask a Public Servant To Honor You and your "Pledge Over Oath of Office?"

Newt Gingrich and the Republican Party had better wake up and smell the coffee! There's no mystery as to why they lost and will continue to lose influence with the American body politic. Look no further than the national symbols of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. These two relentlessly spew their divisive ugliness day in and out with their 'us versus them,' brand of "Conservatism." No superficial conciliatory gesture toward Latinos via immigration reform is going to change the fact that Limbaugh and Hannity's incendiary rhetoric is viewed as hostile by ethnic minorities.

If the Republican Party tries the old divide and conquer tactic with Latinos and Blacks, they will fail miserably. One, there isn't a great deal of difference between Latinos and Blacks when it comes to politics and their respective collective aspirations. And two, while much has been made of the "new" largest minority, the fact is, a significant proportion of that large minority are African in origin. In other words, their origins go right back to the Trans Atlantic slave trade, just as African Americans do. And third and foremost is, implicit in all the hand-wringing and rhetoric about wooing Latino voters is the continued dismissal and relinquishing of African Americans to the Democratic Party. Why? Why is it that I've not heard one high-profile Republican explicitly say, 'we gotta get more African Americans in our party'? Why is the Republican Party giving up on the black vote? Are our suspicions true that you don't want us in your party? Well if you do, then speak out against the daily insults relentlessly spewed by Limbaugh and his ilk.

Obama is extremely popular among African Americans but he has four more years and that's it. No segment of the American body politic garners less for their voting loyalty thanks African Americans! Many of us are tired of our vote being taken for granted. If you take the time to determine where there is common ground and cease with the hostile rhetoric, we're here for the taking. But no self-respecting Black man or woman wants to be associated with a Party that has Rush Limbaugh as its chief opinion leader. And it's obvious Republicans are intimidated by and afraid of Limbaugh.

If Republicans begin to find some backbone and publicly and demonstrably speak out against Limbaugh and Hannity's blanket hostility -- or any other example of the same -- then you will see a warming up to their Party. Newt Gingrich, look no further than yourself and the symbols of your party to find the source of your erosion. We've heard the expression, 'it's the economy, stupid.' Well, in this case, "it's your rhetoric, stupid." Stop the mindless and simplistic narrative that touts that Conservatives (Republicans) are self-reliant rugged individualists and Liberals (Democrats) are takers, on the public dole looking for a government handout.

If you really want to stop the bleeding, put as much distance between Rush Limbaugh and his ilk and your party as you can. Start right there!

I have never understood any legitimate reason that Grover Norquist holds the power he does. To sign a pledge to him, which counteracts -- and obviously overrides -- the oath of office that any elected member of Congress swears to, smacks of treason to me.

On an (admittedly) catty note -- if Grover is not man enough to grow a beard/mustache, couldn't he at least afford a shave of his straggle?

This odious man and his loathesome "pledge" need to go the way of the biggy whip...

the Constitution makes absolutely NO mention whatsoever of Grover Norquist.

Our elected representatives - as flawed as they are - represent their constituents, NOT Norquist.

And if his level of discourse ("poopy head" - REALLY?????) is indicative of the intellect that produced this idiotic pledge, well, I rest my case. I don't foresee the Nobel committee nominating Norquist anytime soon for the Economics prize...

Let the Tyrannical Rule of King Barrack Hussein Obama begin : Obama Administration tells Court : Hobby Lobby Must Obey HHS Mandate - LifeNews.com....here we go folks...War in America...4 more years of Terror. Look what you've done people. That prison they just bought may get put to use soon! Lock up all the Christians until submission or else? What it the world is in store for our once FREE AMERICA! Back to the Supreme Court ...just think of all the money people are having to spend, just to defend their First Ammendment Right! DISGUSTING ! HOPE THE SUPREME'S SQUASH THEM LIKE A BUG ! Thanks, everyone who put this Creep back in.

“The president was elected on the basis that he was not Romney and that Romney was a poopy-head and you should vote against Romney,” Norquist said on CBS’s “This Morning.” “[Obama] won by two points, but he didn’t make the case for higher taxes and higher spending. He kind of sounded like the opposite.”

The facts:

The president campaigned for reelection on ending the Bush-era tax cuts for incomes above $250,000, and has said he would veto any extension of those rates, which would likely be part of any deal to avert the fiscal cliff. Obama also said tax hikes would be needed as part of a “balanced” approach to deficit reduction, which would include spending cuts.

TAKE YOUR MEDS........................................................................................... ........................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................... mlwm #9 Nov. 12, 2012 - 9:38 AM EST Let the Tyrannical Rule of King Barrack Hussein Obama begin : Obama Administration tells Court : Hobby Lobby Must Obey HHS Mandate - LifeNews.com....here we go folks...War in America...4 more years of Terror. Look what you've done people. That prison they just bought may get put to use soon! Lock up all the Christians until submission or else? What it the world is in store for our once FREE AMERICA! Back to the Supreme Court ...just think of all the money people are having to spend, just to defend their First Ammendment Right! DISGUSTING ! HOPE THE SUPREME'S SQUASH THEM LIKE A BUG ! Thanks, everyone who put this Creep back in.

It's time the media does its job. It's time to dispel this notion that raising taxes on rich people is somehow going to crash the economy or destroy jobs. It's nonsense!!

Tax cuts for rich people has nothing to do with jobs, in fact after more than a decade of tax cuts for rich people the jobs market has only broken even from the 2006 collapse. There is just no proof that raising taxes is going to hurt anyone, but there is proof that it can reduce our deficit. If Republicans are truly serious about reducing our deficit than they are going to have to consider raising taxes on rich people.

I am very interested to know what it is to be a Republican. What do they stand for?

Now, I am perfectly familiar with the grandiose slogans of freedom and liberty that Republicans keep repeating to the public, but when you look at exactly who they fight for it is pretty much only people who make lots and lots of money. How is it that so many people vote for so many Republicans who only really represent the few? I think it's because Republicans of today are really good at making people angry and then telling them that it's the government's fault.

Tell you what America, most Americans don't make lots and lots of money. So how is it that there are so many Republicans when all they care about is protecting tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires who don't need them? Republicans say that Democrats are asking too much to raise taxes on people making even $500,000 per year. Think about that. How many people we know make that much money? Hardly anybody? Based on the percentage of the citizenship they represent Republicans have no business holding a majority in any political body.

I think it's time America and the media hold Republicans accountable until they start showing that they are mature and responsible enough to hold positions of leadership.

Even if Obama gets EXACTLY the tax increases he says he wants, he'll still have a trillion dollar deficit.

The federal government is spending at the highest level it has been at since World War II. We're not talking about the dishonest (though technically true) statement of 'spent more than all Presidents combined'.

We're talking about the unassailable fact that as a percentage of GDP, the federal government is at the highest spending in 70 years.

If you talk to an economist, the problem is not too much spending. It was too much spending 10 years ago, when we were in an economic boom, and when we should have been cutting spending. Instead, we spent more and cut taxes, erasing a surplus.

Now, the problem is too little revenue, due both to cut taxes, and overall shrunken coffers from an economic downturn. Further cutting spending, as every economist knows, would exacerbate both problems.

Norquist is a twerp. He is not an economist. He is a squirrelly ideologue. And he should not have such a big hand (or any hand) in influencing American political policy.

"I have never understood any legitimate reason that Grover Norquist holds the power he does. To sign a pledge to him, which counteracts -- and obviously overrides -- the oath of office that any elected member of Congress swears to, smacks of treason to me."

Agreed. Norquist does it through threats. Go along with the pact to never....NEVER.... raise taxes, or his organization will funnel large amounts of money to a primary opponent to defeat you. It's extortion. And it seems to work. Those who have signed the pledge have made the choice to serve Grover Norquist and not the American people. That should be a disqualifying act.

One of the very first things the GOP needs to do in order to survive is to throw Grover Norquist under the bus. It's a mystery why they have allowed this tin horned narcissist to be their puppet master for so long.

I nearly puke every time I hear this buffoon belch out this laughable idiotic rationale that the "pledge" to not raise taxes is not to him but to the American people. Well, the American people do not speak through partisan pledges concocted by right wing ideologues purporting to speak for them. They speak their choices through elections just like the one we just had. And it is abundantly clear that through exit polls and other polls that they want the wealthy to have to share in this painful deal coming up. Sure, just taxing the wealthy isn't a panacea but neither is cutting discretionary spending. Some sacred cows are going to have to be slaughtered in this process and you conservatives had better wake up to that reality. This slop that Grover Norquist is peddling to you swine on the right will no longer be tolerated.